Peter Nathan
Peter Nathan is a Leeds and Leicester based jazz trumpeter and composer with over a decade of playing experience. Peter is studying jazz at Leeds Conservatoire under some of the best musicians in the country. Peter has experience in a variety of Jazz styles such as: Swing, Bebop, Big Band, Latin and New Orleans having played with groups such as the Generation Big Band, the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and the Junkyard Cats Jazz Band. Peter is also an established player in other areas of the industry such as a classical and Musical work. classical setting playing as the principal trumpet for the LCSU Concert Band. as well as working as a pit band musician working in musicals such as Bugsy Malone, Grease and The Addams Family.
Born in Leicester, Peter took to the trumpet at an early age and went on to perform as part of the pit band for his secondary school’s musicals. Developing a love for jazz, Peter played with a local Big Band and the Junkyard Cats Jazz Band before pursuing an education at Leeds Conservatoire on the Jazz course where he has been taught by industry professionals such as Jim Corry, Mark Chandler and Steve Fishwick.
Since Studying at Leeds Peter has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience among the different styles of jazz playing in small ensembles as the lead instrument and with vocalists as well as in larger ensembles such as Big Bands.
During his studies, Peter discovered a passion for composing and has been working on his compositional skills within the genre and writing a tune for his band: The Jazz Passage.
Peter has gained a deep level of experience in other areas of the industry and enjoys playing in classical, musical and pop settings. some of his classical works include, working as the principal trumpet for the LCSU Concert Band leading the section in rehearsals. Furthermore, working as a pit band musician in musicals such as Bugsy Malone, Grease, The Addams Family and most recently Alice By Heart. Peter also has experience recording for up and coming vocalists such as Amelie Payne-Heneghan and Louise Muxworthy.
Peter has an interest in teaching and will be studying music tuition in his second year at the conservatoire in hopes of being able to pass on his knowledge of jazz trumpet- an increasingly rare instrument. As well as tuition Peter will also be studying musical directing and will be adept in leading large groups of musicians to rehearse complicated scores and to conduct during concerts.
Notable work
- Generation Big Band
- Alice By Heart- Musical
- LCSU Concert Band
- The Arrangement Project
- Contemporary Jazz Orchestra
- Junkyard Cats Jazz Band
- Great Central Railway VE Day celebration with the Syston Swing Band
Samples
Original Tune composed by and featuring Peter Nathan
I’ll Be Seeing You- Amelie Payne-Heneghan
Email me: peter.j.nathan21@gmail.com
Telephone: 07729628439
Supporting Essay
EPK’s are essential for musicians to enable them to be seen online. Apple Music (Apple Music, n.d.) describes them as a “Professional business card” which makes it easier for industry professionals such as venues, promoters and other musicians to review your work. They usually include pictures and videos as well as short written bios to show your target audience your skill and style. My EPK has a banner at the top of the page with my name over the top. This saves the viewer from having to read anything to know I am a trumpet player. Getting the information across as quickly as possible is important because an increase in social media usage has decreased people’s attention span as Alaparthi, K. (2024) found in a study. They found that there was significant correlation beyond chance that social media usage decreased attention span. I have a short biography at the top quickly highlighting my skills and experience. This instantly lets people know what genre I mainly perform in as well as highlighting my experience in other styles. Next to the biography is a video of me playing which serves two purposes of breaking up chunks of writing to make it more appealing for my audience as well as showing them my playing which shows me off and enables me to instantly judge me for themselves and hopefully impress them. I have included samples to tracks I have recorded on and composed at the bottom along with Links to my socials and how to contact me.
Currently I don’t have many different videos and pictures of me playing and the ones I am using are not of the highest quality. Over time when I’m gigging more, I will have more photos and videos however it may be worth having some professional photos taken when I am more financially able. This would give the EPK a much more professional look. I would also pay to use an EPK builder which would allow me to make it look nicer however I would keep the structure the same.
While EPK’s are definitely still important as they are a place to host a condensed form of your achievements and work, there is an ever-growing importance for a musician to have an online presence. Lots of musicians have taken to using Instagram and Facebook to promote themselves online and provide an easy way to communicate with their audience. These social media sites are great for posting updates and clips of any projects you are working on and are more casual than the EPK however it is still important to have a main hub to act as your CV.
I have targeted my EPK for venues and bands in need of a trumpet with a heavy focus on jazz as this is mainly what I am interested in however I have also included other styles as I don’t want to shut off any opportunities to earn by performing. I have structured my EPK to talk mostly about playing in a jazz setting and not focused as much on other genres like musical theatre and classical. I have focused on my jazz training mainly as often musicians struggle to play jazz well if they have been trained in other styles, therefore if I had mentioned the other styles I played first, other jazz musicians may be biased against me and think I wouldn’t be best suited.
I have looked at EPKs made by professionals in the jazz industry to get inspiration such as Matt Anderson, Jamil Sheriff and Dave Walsh. Matt Anderson’s website (Matt-anderson.org.uk, 2015) has audio clips at the top of the page which I thought was effective at showing off his playing. I decided to use audio clips but put them at the bottom of the page as I felt they were cluttering the website, and I wanted my EPK to be as user friendly for the consumer as possible to retain their attention. I Thought the banner was good on Jamil Sheriff’s website (JamilSheriff.co.uk, 2016) and thought it would be a good idea to incorporate it into my website as it was simple yet conveys lots of information. Not all jazz EPKs are formal, for example on Dave Walsh’s website (My WordPress, 2025) he uses the first person for a Heading. I Felt this was charming and makes him come across as friendly however I opted to keep my EPK in a formal style as I didn’t think it would reflect on me well as an unestablished player new to the industry.
When starting my EPK, I was unsure of what I could put in it when a member of my seminar group said to mind-map any achievements I could think of to do with music, no matter how small. I found this very helpful because I was so focused on my inexperience that I didn’t realise I had achieved a lot more than I originally thought such as playing in the pit band for musicals in my secondary school and being asked to play for a local jazz band. Another member even said I could put being a student at Leeds Conservatoire which was an obvious point to write about in the EPK I just didn’t think of it. When creating the biography, I was sat in a small group in my seminar and we all shared what we had written, this was helpful because not only could I get feedback from other people on my own biography, but I was also able to borrow ideas that other people had used in their biography. For example, I hadn’t thought of saying how long I’ve been playing my instrument until someone else read out their biography. All of us said how we don quite have the experience needed to make a high quality EPK and agreed that what would help us the most at the moment is just more experience gigging or producing as this would allow us to show ourselves off more in the EPK.
When we were discussing our EPK’s I was starting to run out of ideas. Someone suggested that we could write down what we were planning to do in the future as we are not currently fully developed musicians. This gave me the idea of speaking about teaching and musical direction, both of which are the modules I have chosen for second year. Teaching is something I have given thought to before and I put it in the EPK because as a group we felt it would be a great additional skill to have for any potential employers.
Exchanging ideas in groups was particularly useful because we were in a cross-pathway seminar meaning people from other courses were able to give me fresh ideas and perspectives which I would not have had access to. A producer said that mentioning any studio work I had would be a great idea if I wanted to record on tracks. Mentioning my studio experience opens up more opportunities for me as I will be seen as a reliable player could be called in to do studio session work as they would know I would be able to get on with the work with less hassle than someone who has never recorded before.
As previously mentioned, a great way for me to upgrade my EPK would be with professional headshots. According to Bark.com (www.bark.com, n.d.) the average price for these photos is £125 but can go up to £175. While this is a big upfront cost, it would immediately make the EPK look more professional which in turn may get the viewer to take me more seriously.
I also need to be careful with the inclusion of music in my EPK. One of the tracks is my own original which PRS (PRS for Music, 2019) says is automatically protected by copyright because I am it’s creator and have evidence of when I created it. In future I will have to be careful when including recordings of any of my originals as I will not automatically own the master rights to the recording however in this instance everyone involved in the recording is fine with me using it. I will be extra careful using samples of additional tracks as if I record for someone I would not own compositional or master rights and would have to ask their permission to use the recording.
Finally it would be useful for me to host my EPK on a website. To do this I would need a domain. This is easily doable with sites such as Go Daddy where I could rent the name peternathan-jazz.com for £37.99 for three years (GoDaddy Domain Name Search, 2023.) Hosting the EPK on a website allows people to find my EPK themselves without me having to send it out to people and it would show up if people searched my name on the internet, saving me time and allowing people to find me that I would not necessarily have a way to contact.
Overall I believe my EPK has all the essentials that every good EPK needs and as my journey through the music industry progresses, I will be able to update it as required to make it more professional.
- Alaparthi, K., 2024. Technology and Digital Media’s Impact on Attention Span in Teenagers and Young Adults. Available at SSRN 4872178. [Accessed 10 May 2025]
- Apple Music (n.d.). Why an Electronic Press Kit matters – Apple Music for Artists. [online] artists.apple.com. Available at: https://artists.apple.com/support/1121-why-an-electronic-press-kit-matters.
- GoDaddy Domain Name Search (2023). Godaddy.com. Available at: https://www.godaddy.com/en-uk/domainsearch/find?itc=dlp_domain&domainToCheck=PeterNathan-Jazz&tmskey=1dom_03_buydomain (Accessed: 11 May 2025).
- JamilSheriff.co.uk. (2016). Biog and Press. [online] Available at: https://jamilsheriffmusic.wordpress.com/about/ [Accessed 7 May 2025].
- Matt-anderson.org.uk. (2015). Matt Anderson | Music, info and upcoming performances from the London-based saxophonist & composer. [online] Available at: https://www.matt-anderson.org.uk/.
- My WordPress. (2025). Home – My WordPress. [online] Available at: https://davewalshdrums.com/ [Accessed 7 May 2025].
- PRS for Music (2019). How copyright works. [online] Prsformusic.com. Available at: https://www.prsformusic.com/works/how-copyright-works.
- www.bark.com. (n.d.). Headshot Photography Prices 2023 | Corporate Headshot Pricing | Headshot Photographer – Bark. [online] Available at: https://www.bark.com/en/gb/headshot-photographers/headshot-photography-prices/.
